The Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) held its regular meeting Oct. 9 in the Avaza National Tourist Zone in Turkmenistan, according to the CIS Executive Committee’s website.
The meeting was chaired by Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov. Participants included Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and CIS Secretary-General Sergey Lebedev.
During a restricted-format meeting, the heads of state exchanged views on key issues of cooperation within the Commonwealth. They also decided that Uzbekistan would assume the CIS chairmanship in 2027, while Turkmenistan and, for the first time, Azerbaijan would serve as co-chairs.
At the expanded-format summit, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a welcoming address, participating for the first time in a meeting under the “CIS+” format. Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev also attended the summit as an observer, continuing the established practice.
The leaders adopted a statement marking the 35th anniversary of the CIS. According to the statement, the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth and the Alma-Ata Declaration had laid the foundation for preserving historical ties among peoples and enabled a transition to a new model of mutually beneficial cooperation and stronger friendly and good-neighborly relations among states based on sovereign equality.
The leaders also adopted decisions declaring 2028 the Year of Social Development and Quality of Life in the CIS and 2029 the Year of Transport Connectivity. The first initiative was proposed by Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration, while Turkmenistan put forward the second. According to the report, Turkmenistan’s proposal logically follows the goals set out in its 2026 CIS chairmanship concept.
The leaders also agreed to conduct population censuses across CIS member states as part of the 2030 round of censuses. Governments were instructed to support the World Programme for the Census of Population and Housing.
CIS certificates of honor were awarded to Tahir Ikshanov, executive director of the Interstate Foundation for Humanitarian Cooperation, for his contribution to cultural and humanitarian cooperation, and Viktor Popov, chairman of the Directorate of the Council for Railway Transport, for his work to strengthen and develop the Commonwealth.
The next meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State is scheduled for October 2027 in Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
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